Group targets toilets

Toronto may well be poised for a toilet revolution. And Ari Grief, a Toronto filmmaker, activist and founder of the Canadian Toilet Organization, wants to lead the charge.

Yesterday marked a significant step in bringing the battle for clean and accessible public toilets closer to home, with the official launch of the CTO. The launch took place at the United Nations University's International Network on Water, Environment and Health site at McMaster University in Hamilton.

This year is the International Year of Sanitation and UNU is hosting talks from top sanitation experts from around the world.

Grief will be taking Jack Sim, founder of the World Toilet Organization, around the GTA to check out our latest toilet technology. Their first stop will be Toronto design company Cooler Solutions, a leader in sustainable design toilets. Their toilet can hold seven to 10 days of waste. When full, part of it can be removed and pushed into the ground, to bury it.

Toronto plans to install self-cleaning public toilets. The first one is scheduled to be installed next year, then two will be installed each year after that for a total of 20.

"The fact that after use it closes (and) fully sanitizes itself is really appealing," said Kyp Perikleous, manager of the street furniture unit for the City of Toronto.